Lil Wayne, a talented Hip Hop artist, has made his fame and fortune by weaving and threading lyrics that at times appear poetic, enlightening, inspirational, especially his hard edge, urban commentary on "how to love" while in the mist of strife, struggle and stagnation. But, not far from the orbit of Lil Wayne's seemingly "tree of wisdom," one will find within his oeuvre, the verbal and visual perpetuation of the "male gaze" and the twofold emphasis of the objectification of women and legitimization of examining them (Berger, John, "Ways of Seeing," 1972). Many of his lyrics (like most Hip Hop impresarios) exude the metaphor that "men give scent" while "women give off scent." This observation is an acknowledgement of John Berger's notable insight that "men act and women appear" (id., p 47).
Hip Hop - which I, like many, acknowledge and cannot ignore -has pressed forward this perpetuation of the male gaze. Hip Hop lyrics that both demean and praise women solidify the male gaze both in unequivocal terms and in nuances. Because of its prominence in urban culture and successful cross over, particularly among the young and those living outside the urban environ, Hip Hop as an "art form" has transitioned the urban "male gaze" to an audience that mimics its very lyrics, while also envisioning the female subject matters that male Hip Hop artist "rap" and "rant" about.
Though poetic at times, these very lyrics express the "male emotion" of how women are to be seen, to be treated, to be "loved." The spectator is constantly reminded both in tone and lyric that what is being stated is a mere expression of the Hip Hop artist's view of the female; he is the "surveyor," and she is the "surveyed" (id., p 46). In the end, the male Hip Hop artist seeks to - and many will agree - successfully convince the spectator, particularly the male and the female who adores him, that men have a stance in the world that is distinguishable from the women, subjecting both of them to ways of seeing. The former is to gaze with the pleasure of looking, while the latter is to feel pleasure of being looked at.
But, today, unlike yesterday, there is a retort that exemplifies the oppositional gaze or as Dr. Bell Hooks stated "there is power in looking" (Hooks, Bell, " The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators," 1992). Lil Wayne's contemporary, Nicki Minaj, exemplifies the oppositional gaze of the female that transcends race and arguably gender. She has her critics (asked Lil Kim?! and roll your eyes . . . ), but Ms. Minaj has literally and with poetic license taken a stance to counter the male gaze in Hip Hop culture. Indeed, Nikki Minaj's has been described as one of a very few Hip Hop Feminists.
Both in her videos and songs, Ms. Minaj conveys the oppositional gaze that is far from subtle or in the words of Dr. Hooks, "not only will [Ms. Minaj] stare. [She] want[s her] stare to change reality" (id., p 116). The oppositional gaze that has developed in Hip Hop culture has ironically come full circle and not far from its progeny, the African American female spectator and the resistance struggle, where "one learns to look a certain way in order to resist" (id.,).
Watching Ms. Minaj at work (e.g., "Moment 4 Life" video) may appear to some to be a facial replication of the male gaze, but her performances and lyrics (she can be very vulgar, which can be identified as an oppositional gaze that empowers) arguably serve to sexually objectify herself on her own terms. She takes back the words that the male gaze attempts to frame her in and supplements them with her own vernacular; by doing so, Ms. Minaj literally changes the male perspective, it is she who defines how she is to be perceived as a woman. Ms. Minaj - using her lyrical skills -rejects the notion that women have to "interiorize" themselves in order to acquire "some control" over how men treat them (Berger, J, supra, p 46). Rather, through the synergy of her lyrical vernacular and persona, does Ms. Minaj "exteriorize" herself with a semblence of "self-objectification" that she defines, controls, and protects against male gaze manipulation?
Arguably, Ms. Minaj twists the perspective of the spectator, that is, how they see her. Would Laura Mulvey agree Ms.Minaj has literally switched the male spectator's perspective (Mulvey, Laura, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," 1975, pp 835-837), that is, by her active participation in framing herself the male spectator is now unable to make Ms. Minaj - the female character - as his own personal sex object? Does Ms. Minaj upend this "world ordered by sexual imbalance" (id., p 837), to a world ordered by sexual balance?
Much like the women described by Dr. Hooks in her article (Hooks, B, supra, p 120), Ms. Minaj seemingly identifies with Sapphire, the female character in Amos and Andy, amplifying in lyrics and performances her frustrations and woes; her resentment of the way women are mocked by male Hip Hop artists. She challenges stereotypes as well as the male gaze in both her lyrics and performances. She literally "breaks out" (an encouragement expressed by Dr. Hooks), no longer "imprisoned by images that enact a drama of . . . negation" (id., p 127). In the end, has Nicki Minaj (metaphorically) slapped back?
Sources:
Berger, John, "Ways of Seeing," 1972.
Hooks, Bell, " The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators," 1992.
Mulvey, Laura, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," 1975
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